2019-08-01_25_Beautiful_Homes

country | 25bh

F

ewhomeownerscansaythattheyboughttheir

homebyaccident,butthat’sexactlywhathappened

tointeriordesignerTorVivian.‘Wehadn’tbeen

planningtomovehouseatall,whenI bumpedinto

a friendina localshop,’saysTor.‘Myfriendtoldmeshewas

sellingherhome– a 200-yearoldconvertedbarn– but

hadn’thadmuchinterest,soshesuggestedI takea look.Out

ofcuriosity,I wenttoviewit withmyhusbandTom.Wefell

inlovewithit,despitethefactthatit wasbadlyinneedof

renovation.Ithadbeenrentedoutfor 15 yearsanddidn’t

evenhavea properkitchen,butit hadlotsofpotential.’

Assoonasthepurchasewascompleted,Tordrewupa

scheduleofbuildingwork.‘Whenwemovedin,wehadan

issuewiththelayout,’shesays.‘Therewasalwaysgoingtobe

oneroomthatpeoplewouldneedtowalkthrough,soI

decidedtoturnit intoanopen-plankitchen-diner.Happily,

wedidn’tneedtoknockdownmanywalls.’Thecouplealso

convertedthegarageintoa self-containedsuiteforguests.

Withthestructuralworkcomplete,Torturnedher

attentiontothedecor.‘ItwasreallyeasyasI hada lotofart

andfurniturealready,soI designedthebarn’sinterior

around those pieces,’ she says. ‘I worked in the same way I

STUDy

Thisroomis

connectedto

George’sbedroom.

‘Heneverleaves

it,’saysTor.

AndrewMartin

Librarywallpaper

inMulticoloured,

£143fortworolls,

houseology

DAISy’S

BEDROOM

Tor’sdaughter

helpedtodesignthis

scheme,whichwas

inspiredbyLA.

barnebygates

MarrakechPalm

wallpaperinSoft

gold,£87a roll,

JaneClayton&

Company

last wor d‘Ifyouseea pieceof

furnitureorpaintingyoulove,buyit,

evenif you’renotsurewhereitwillgo.

If you like it, it will work somewhere’

wouldfora client,creatinga budget,moodboardsandroom

plans.I likea mixofvintage,antiqueandmodernpieces.If

everythingis new,there’snosenseofhistoryandnostory.’

ThewallswerethenpaintedinTor’sfavouriteshades,

includinga strikingbluecolourforthehallway.‘Initially,

Tomneededconvincing,’saysTor,‘andI hadtopainthuge

samplesontoliningpapertoproveit wasthewaytogo.I was

goingtodoit anywaybutheagreedafterseeingthesamples!’

Toralsotookinspirationfromsomeofthedesignsshe’s

createdforherclientsovertheyears.‘I’veusedsomeofmy

favouriteshere,likethemirroredtilesinthebathroom,for

example,’shesays.Tor’schildren,Daisy,now21,andGeorge,

18,werealsoinvolvedindesigningtheirbedrooms,although

Tortookcontrol.‘Mydaughtercametotheofficetoworkon

it,’saysTor.‘Whatshedidisn’twhatI wouldhavedone,but

Ican’tstampmyideasontoherbecauseofmyprofession.’

Thebarn’sneutralpaletteis alsotheperfectbackdropfor

Tor’scollectionofpaintingsandotherartwork.‘Myfather

wasa greatartlover,soI gota fewhand-me-downsthatgot

mestarted,’shesays.‘I gotoexhibitionsandI can’tleave

withoutbuyingsomething.Itdoesn’thavetobeexpensive–

whatI loveis findingsomethingthatTomandI bothlike.’

AlthoughTorandherfamilyhavemovedhouse 12 times

inthelasteightyears,shedoesn’truleoutthepossibilityof

movingagain.‘Ournextplacewilldefinitelystillbeinthis

area,’shesays.‘Thereis nowaymyfamilywould move back

to London now. We all love it here so much.’

25bhAuguSt 2019| 127